摘 要

爱德华摩根福斯特作为一名二十世纪的小说家、文艺理论家和散文家，在现代英国文学乃至世界英国文学中都占据重要地位。《印度之行》是根据其印度旅行的经历和感受所作，作品主要讲述了英国人菲尔丁和印度人阿齐兹的友谊。本文从后殖民主义的角度重读《印度之行》，旨在分析文化的冲突与融合，反思友谊破裂和文化融合失败的原因，寻求实现友谊和文化融合的方法。文章由六部分组成：第一章介绍作品的研究背景及意义；第二章概括后殖民主义的出现，发展及主要观点，为全文的写作提供理论依据；第三章回顾菲尔丁与阿齐兹友谊，预测友谊破裂的原因；第四章分析种族、宗教及人与人之间的冲突，揭示菲尔丁与阿齐兹不能成为朋友的真相。第五章论述友谊破裂所映射出两国文化融合的失败及唯有在平等独立的基础上才能实现友谊和融合；第六章总结友谊破裂及文化融合失败的缘由，提出唯有在两国平等独立的基础上，菲尔丁和阿齐兹才能成为朋友，文化的融合才能得以实现。

关键词：印度之行；后殖民主义；文化冲突；文化融合

Abstract

E.M. Forster as a 20th-century novelist, literary theorist and essayist, occupies important position whatever in modern English literature or in the world English literature. His major work A Passage to India was written according to his own experiences and feelings in India. The work mainly talks about the friendship between Fielding and Aziz. The thesis studies the novel from the view of postcolonialism, aims to analyze culture conflict and unity, rethink the reasons for the failure of friendship and unity, find out a solution to realize the friendship and unity. The thesis is composed of six sections: The first part introduces research background and significance of the novel; the second chapter summarizes the emergence, development and main application of postcolonialism, and provides a theoretical basis for the full paper; the third chapter reviews the friendship between Fielding and Aziz, and foreshadows the reasons for the alienation of friendship; the fourth chapter discusses the conflicts between races, religions and individuals, and reveals the truth that Fielding and Aziz can’t be friends; the fifth part discusses the failure of culture unity according to their friendship and the solution to achieve friendship and unity; the final chapter comes to the conclusion that only on the basis of independent and equal relationships between two nations, can Fielding and Aziz be friends and culture unity be achieved.

Key Words: A Passage to India; postcolonialism; culture conflict; culture unity

Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Theoretical Basis 3

2.1 The Origin and Development of Postcolonialism 3

2.2 Application of Postcolonialism 4

3 Course of the Friendship between Aziz and Fielding 6

3.1 The Establishment of Pure-heart Friendship in Fielding’s Tea Party 6

3.2 The Development of Friendship in Aziz’s Home 6

3.3 The Generation of Alienation in Adela’s False Accusation 7

3.4 Ultimate Departure of Unequal Friendship 8

4 Causes of the Departure of Friendship: Culture Conflicts 9

4.1 Conflict between the colonizer and the colonized 9

4.2 Conflict between Christianity and Hindusim 10

4.3 Conflict between British and Indian 11

5 The Realisation of the Friendship and Unity 12

5.1 The Failure of Culture Unity 12

5.2 Real Unity 13

6 Conclusion 15

References 16

Acknowledgements 17

On Culture Conflict and Unity in A Passage to India:from the Perspective of Postcolonialism

1 Introduction

Edward Morgan Forster was a 20th-century novelist, literary theorist and essayist. A Passage to India is one of his acknowledged works. It was written combined his personal trip experiences and feelings. In this work, Forster skillfully describes the conflict and tension between two countries with different culture and race. The alienation and conflict between nations, religions and individuals are much more long-lasting compared with the temporary connections between native Indians and Anglo-British. After the release of the work, the studies on it have lasted about 92 years. Critics have studied it from various perspectives. Before the publication of Edward Said’s Orientalism, the studies to A Passage to India mainly focus on the rhythmic interweaving of its themes(Herz, 1993), such as E.K. Brown’s Rhythm in the Novel (1950); writing techniques and symbols, such as Reuben A. Brower’s The Twilight of the Double Vision: Symbol and Irony in A Passage to India(1951). Then the emergence of postcolonial approach provides new views for the research. Among the studies, the most representative and influential work is Benita Parry’s Delusions and Discoveries:Studies on India in the British Imagination 1880-1930(1972). The work gives foundamental contexual information to understand the British situation in India and the novel from the encounter (Herz, 1993). Then the publication of Said’s Orientalism aroused the storm of reinterpretation of A Passage to India from the postcolonial perspective. Most postcolonial studies assume the text’s collusion with imperialism. Some studies combine postcolonialism and feminism. For instance, Brenda Silver “locates the text at the intersection of racism, colonialism, and sexual inequality and sees in Aziz the feminized and colonized object” (Herz, 1993, p.41).

In some recent studies, sexual and racial politics have replaced rhythm and symbol. Jeremy Tambling’s critical collection E.M. Forster: Contemporary Critical Essays(1995) provides a comprehensive perspective for current studies of A Passage to India. What’s more, there is a trend that using linguistics theories, especially politeness theory to expose racial conflicts. For instance, R. A. Buck, his study reveals stylistic as a powerful tool to further explore the novel. These various interpretations show that A Passage to India is a reading model combined the postcolonialism, realistic depiction and modernist methods(Gilbert, 2002) .

In China, there are also numerous studies from different point of views. The discussions of A Passage to India mainly focus on cross-cultural view, or postcolonialism. For example, Tao Jiajun’s The Evolution of Cultural Identification: Studies on Forster’s novels and thoughts(2003) gives a comprehensive assessment and analysis from the view of cultural studies. And in Cui Shaoyuan’s essay, he discusses the cultural conflicts and coexistence, saying that it is colonialism and imperialism that lead to the separation, misunderstanding and the enmity between the two nations(崔少元, 2000). Because post-colonialism aims to examine the culture in the colony of European empires, including literature, politics, history and some relationships between these countries and other countries in the world. Most essays focus on studying imperialism and culture hegemony from the perspective of postcolonialism, however there is little information available in literature about analyzing culture conflict and unity reflected through their friendship.

So in this paper, the author will focus on analyzing culture conflict and unity reflected in the friendship between Fielding and Aziz, finding the reasons for the failure of friendship and culture. Finally the thesis will find a solution to solve the failure of friendship and culture unity.

2 Theoretical Basis

2.1 The Origin and Development of Postcolonialism

In the last few decades, postcolonialism was widely used in literary studies. Postcolonialism focuses on the analysis of non-European culture, especially analyzes the works about colonized country or religions, criticizes Euro-centrism in Westerner’s works, and studies the identity of colonized people. About its origin, it can be traced back to Frantz Fanon’s The Black Skin, White Mask in 1952. The book laid the foundation for the colonialist discourse. In this book, he put forward some psychological theories about colonial culture and mentioned some key postcolonial concepts like race, identity and so forth. And the following work The Wretched of the Earth is also influential, which he suggests that the primary task of these colonized nations was to get rid of the colonial state in their mind, rather than just to fight for the surface of independent form(Barry, 1995). The book was and still is an inspirational key text for current critics. On the whole, Fanon’s works have significant influence on the following theorists, especially Edward Said and Homi Bhabha. Said thinks that Fanon’s work forced Europe suzerain in thinking about their own history, meanwhile must think the history of wakeful colony(Ashcroft et al. 2006).

After the publication of Edward Said’s Orientalism, a new field of academic research was opened. Said sharply and angrily criticized the western colonialism in the culture, analyzed and described the internal power structure in the Western hierarchy(Said, 2003). Said 's work was an earliest work to attack imperialism, racism and colonial rule in the British and American Humanities. He analyzed the colonial discourse: various text forms; west coded and manufactured the knowledge of non-metropolitan, especially these countries controlled by colonialism and their culture. In the history of postcolonialism, we can say that Said’s work is the landmark of its development. On the basis of Said, Homi Bhabha brings forth the concerning of the voice of the colonized. She believes there is need to repeat the racial stereotyping indicates an unconscious ambivalence in the mind of the colonizer and the need to continuously rebuild the relationship of dominance(Wei，2009).